This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-37792, filed Jul. 2, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wall-mounted type microwave oven, and more particularly, to a wall-mounted type microwave oven, in which a structure for holding a power cord on a top panel of oven body of the wall-mounted type microwave oven is improved so as to afford easy assembly and reduction of manufacturing cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is mounted on a kitchen wall over a gas oven and not only carries out a cooking operation, but also exhausts gas and fumes generated from the gas oven disposed below the wall-mounted type microwave oven.
The wall-mounted type microwave oven includes an oven body having a cooking chamber and an electric component compartment therein, each being isolated from one another. An exhaust flow path is defined between outer surfaces of the cooking chamber and the electric component compartment and the oven body to allow gas and fumes generated from the gas oven disposed below the oven body to be exhausted therethrough.
The exhaust flow path is disposed around the cooking chamber and the electric component compartment. A bottom panel of the oven body is provided with intake ports so as to allow the gas and fumes existing below the oven body to be introduced into the oven body therethrough. The oven body is provided at an upper portion of the oven body with an exhaust fan to discharge the gas and fumes, introduced into the oven body, to an outside.
The wall-mounted type microwave oven includes a power cord to supply an electric current from an external power source to a power supply provided in the oven body, the power cord being outwardly extended from the oven body. The power cord is usually extended from the oven body through the top panel of the oven body. Since the oven body of the wall-mounted type microwave oven is usually mounted on a kitchen wall so as to be closely interposed between kitchen cabinets, to take the power cord out of the oven body through a rear surface or side surfaces of the oven body is difficult, and heat generated from the gas oven disposed below the oven body can disadvantageously be transmitted to the power cord if the power cord is extended from the microwave oven body through the bottom panel of the oven body of the wall-mounted type microwave oven.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a substantial part of a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven is shown. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a top panel 2 of an oven body 1 is provided with a lead-out hole 4, through which a power cord 3 is extended from the oven body 1. A plug 3a is coupled to a free end of the power cord 3 extended from the oven body 1. The power cord 3 is provided with a holding piece 5 to hold the power cord 3 on the top panel 2. The holding piece 5 includes a peripheral groove 5a formed at a peripheral surface of the peripheral groove 5a such that the peripheral groove 5a of the holding piece 5 is engaged with a holding edge 4a formed adjacent to the lead-out hole 4.
After the holding piece 5 of the power cord 3 is held by the holding edge 4a of the lead-out hole 4, a cover 6 is attached to the top panel 2. The cover 6 is attached to the top panel 2 by screws 7 to cover the lead-out hole 4. The cover 6 is provided at one side of the cover 6 with a retainer 6a which is adapted to surround a portion of the holding piece 5 so as to prevent the holding piece 5 from being separated from the holding edge 4a. 
However, since the above-described conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven requires additional components, such as the cover 6 to hold the power cord 3 on the top panel 2, manufacturing cost become high. Further, since the cover 6 must be attached to the top panel 2 of the oven body 1 by screws, assembling time of the wall-mounted type microwave oven is increased, thereby deteriorating productivity.
Accordingly, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is provided, in which a holding structure of a power cord is improved so as to assure easy assembly and reduction of manufacturing cost.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
In order to accomplish the above and other aspects, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is provided comprising: a top panel defining an upper surface of an oven body and having an opening allowing an exhaust fan assembly to be received into the oven body therethrough; a cover removably attached to the top panel to cover the opening; and a power cord which is pulled from the oven body through the opening and held on the top panel by an attachment of the cover.
The power cord may be provided with a holding piece, which includes a peripheral groove between upper and lower surfaces of the holding piece. The top panel may be provided with a cut portion to be connected to the opening, so that edges of the top panel defining the cut portion are engaged with the peripheral groove of the holding piece. The cover may be provided with a retaining portion to support the holding piece which is fitted into the cut portion of the top panel.
The cut portion may be formed at an edge of the top panel defining the opening, and the retaining portion may be provided at an edge of the cover to support an upper surface and a side surface of the holding piece.